Israel has refused to receive five European Foreign Ministers this week because their planned visit was too close to the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, which begins on Friday.
According to an Israeli foreign ministry spokesman, the visit, which was scheduled for Thursday, was postponed “sine die” because the Europeans declined alternative dates proposed by Israel.
Israel described as "insensitive" the European demand to hold the talks on the eve of the holiest day in the Jewish calendar but denied Israeli newspaper reports that the refusal was connected to European wishes to put pressure on Israel to extend its construction freeze in the West Bank which expires in two weeks.
The EU visit is reported to have been initiated by French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and his Spanish counterpart, Miguel Angel Moratinos, after discussions between them over the EU's efforts to promote the Middle East peace process. The British, German and Italian Foreign Ministers, respectively William Hague, Guido Westerwelle and Franco Frattini, were reportedly also expected to join the delegation.
At an informal meeting of EU Foreign Ministers last weekend in Brussels, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton was criticized for not attending the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian talks in Washington two weeks ago despite the fact that the EU is the main provider of aid to the Palestinian Authority.
In June, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman invited his Italian counterpart Franco Frattini to put together a group of European Foreign Ministers to visit Israel and the Gaza Strip. But the visit was then postponed from a proposed date in September because it clashed with timelines for the resumed Israeli-Palestinian talks.
According to media reports, Israel’s foreign ministry has meanwhile asked European officials to restart the process of upgrading Israeli-EU relations in light of the resumption of direct Israeli-Palestinian talks.
The European Union decided in April 2009 to freeze the upgrading process after Israeli-Palestinian talks were suspended. The Europeans then clearly linked the process to the renewal of the peace talks.
Israeli media reported that a directive was sent last week to Israel's EU representation in Brussels and to Israeli embassies instructing Israeli ambassadors to appeal to the highest levels of government in the countries where they serve and in the EU with the message that the renewal of peace talks has created conditions appropriate to "thawing out" the upgrade of Israel's relations with the organization.
EU Foreign Ministers decided unanimously in December 2008 to upgrade the relations with Israel in several areas of cooperation.
In July, after meeting with Catherine Ashton in Jerusalem, Israel’s Foreign Minister declared that Israel hoped to upgrade its relations with the European Union “as soon as possible”.
Ashton for her part emphasized the “strong bond” between the EU and Israel. “We have a solid vibrant partnership in the framework of the European Neighbourhood Policy across an extensive range of sectors,” she said, adding that “there is a huge potential to further develop these relations.”